Artospective: Figurative Painter Leticia Banegas from Honduras.

An Interview with Leticia Banegas.

Who and where are you from?

I am Leticia Banegas, figurative painter and I was born and live in Honduras.

What brought you to Art?

I am making art since I can remember. When I was a child I would try to copy the faces in magazine covers, later in my teens I discovered painting. But art supplies were very expensive back then in Honduras. There was only one store and since there was no competition they pretty much sold art supplies for really high prices. In part that was a Good thing because that allowed me to experiment with non traditional materials and with school supplies. Later when I graduated high school I began studying graphic design in the University. It was the closest to art school in Honduras.

Even though I loved making art, for a long time I took it as a hobby (because I really didn't think I could make a living from art). After years jumping from one job to another I decided I couldn't keep taking Jobs I hated just to survive. So I took the plunge, it was so scary and exciting to quit my current job at the time and try to make a living by doing what I felt I was born to do. And it was the best decision.

What is your driving force?

I love what I do, so I guess that is my driving force in a way. I get up every morning happy to start work because I am doing what I love the most.

What kind of work you do and why?

I see my work as the portrayal of a world that exists somewhere between heaven and earth. When I paint I see these women, I see them walking like if underwater with their hair flowing in slow motion. They exist, I see them. It is a magical realm that most of us can´t see but that doesn´t mean it doesn´t exist. What inspires me is the women in my family through generations. Their stories are so rich, complex and some of them are almost surreal. I try to create a "world" populated by the magical presence of these women.

Tell us more about your thought process.

I don't really plan my paintings. Usually it all begins with an idea but the end result is completely different from where I started. When I draw these women I start building a story behind the character. It is somewhat hard to explain. When I am in the process of drawing I start to get to know the woman I am painting, her dreams, her life, her personality. So in a way it feels like the painting makes itself and I am just the channel that gets the

information out through a canvas.